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Check out some of the highlights from this year's Michigan Tech Week. Don't want to miss out on the fun in 2023? Subscribe to stay in the loop.

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Michigan Entrepreneur Summit

Open call for applications - link to application below:

Here's the link to the MES application
Application closes September 18th at 11:59pm EST

Quick MES history:

Michigan Entrepreneur Summit (MES) was originally founded in 2021 by 5 five University of Michigan students (Ryan Morrison, Addison Viener, Adithya Sanjay, Adam Schreck, Brooke Dukellis) as a way to bring the winners of various pitch competitions across University of Michigan together to compete for the title of "most likely founder to pursue entrepreneur as a career" and "most likely startup to be successful post-graduation."
Amulya Parmar, founder of LeaseMagnets won the competition in 2021 and used the $5k check to open his first HQ in Ann Arbor. That summer, he was accepted into YCombinator, and he is still scaling his startup 2.5 years later (delivering 500k tours and $100M in leases).
Ryan led the charge with Adithya to bring the competition back in 2022 after 4/5 of the original team graduated and moved on to corporate / startup careers. Oliver Broacto and Tabs Chocolate won the competition in 2022, and they did over $1M in revenue selling their aphrodisiacal chocolate on Tik Tok.
Today, MES is a part of Ryan's original vision for a community called Maximize, designed as a community for founders to join as students and grow together beyond the college classroom and campus. MES is one of three programs created by Maximize, including their non-profit Venture Catalyst incubator and Venture Studio.
Michigan Entrepreneur Summit (MES) 2023 is a partner of Michigan Tech Week. Co-hosted by Ryan, Founder of Maximize and Michael Meadows, Co-Founder of Protein Pints, the vision for this year is to bring the top student startups from across the state of Michigan to compete for the summit in-person for the first-time.

To learn more about MES, our community and programs supporting student founders, send us an email: info@michiganentrepreneursummit.com

Prize:

1st prize: $7500 non-dilutive funding

2nd prize: $2500 non-dilutive funding

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October 11, 2023 12:00 PM

September 18, 2023 11:55 PM

Michigan Life Sciences Entrepreneur’s Association Business Plan Competition 2023

Dear Life Science Ecosystem Leaders,

We are thrilled to announce the launch of our inaugural Life Science Startup Business Plan Competition at the Michigan Tech Week (MTW) in Ann Arbor, offering an exciting opportunity for budding innovators to showcase their ideas and vie for a chance to win a grand prize valued at $20,000! If you are a visionary entrepreneur with a passion for driving advancements in the field of life sciences, this competition is tailor-made for you.

The Grand Prize Winner will receive a cash award of $15,000, along with $5,000 worth of legal services provided by Varnum Law Firm.

The runner-up will receive a $5,000 cash award.

Finalists will be invited to pitch in front of a distinguished panel of judges at the iconic Big House venue.

Competition Details:

Event Date: October 9, 2023

Location: Big House, Ann Arbor

Entry Deadline: September 15, 2023

Selection Criteria:

Your company needs to:

Be incorporated (or an LLC) with major operations/headquarters in Michigan
Have an established, full-time founding team
Have a product or Minimum Viable Product (drug, device, assay) with IP protection
Have a strong social impact in solving unmet medical or life science research problems
Be committed to growing their business/team in-state (does not exclude growing out-of-state as well)

Disqualifier:

Companies that have raised $2 million or more in funding (excluding state or federal grants) are ineligible.

How to Enter:

A. Prepare your Business Pitch Deck:

Your pitch deck should have no more than ten slides (Not including your cover slide)

Problem
Solution
Technology and IP protection
Market insight
Competition (Hint: Porter’s five forces)
Business model
5 Year Finance Projections
Milestones
Team
Ask

B. Submit Your Entry:

Email your pitch deck to MLSEABusinessPlanCompetition@gmail.com

C. Selection Process:

A panel of experienced judges will evaluate the entries based on criteria such as innovation, feasibility, market potential, and impact on the life science sector.

D. Final Event:

If selected as a finalist, you will be invited to present your business plan at our final event, where you'll have the chance to impress the judges and compete for the grand prize.

*slides must be submitted in PowerPoint or PDF format.

Best regards,

Priya Gogoi

CEO, MLSEA

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October 9, 2023 11:00 AM

September 14, 2023 11:59 PM

Michigan Founders Fund Venture Competition (team pitch format)

2023 APPLICATIONS ARE NOW CLOSED.

‍

Made possible with support from the Song Foundation, up to 60 companies may be accepted to compete IN TEAMS on the Main Stage at the University of Michigan football stadium October 10, 2023 for $150,000 of non-dilutive funding and free legal services with a $5,000 MiSpringboard grant from Varnum LLP. Please read all eligibility and competition details below before applying!

ELIGIBILITY:

Must be headquartered or have significant base of operations in the state of Michigan
Must have an established, full-time founding team
Product must be in market and generating ARR
Committed to growing the business/team in the state of Michigan (does not exclude also growing out of state)
Companies who have already raised $2 million or more in funding (excluding state or federal grants) are not eligible
Past winners (recipients of prize funding) of the MFF Venture Competition are not eligible

TIMELINE:
APPLICATIONS Open Now through 11:59 PM on Wednesday, Sep 27, 2023.
Now through Sep 27th: a selection committee will review the online applications and select the founders/companies who will be invited to participate in the competition
Sep 29th: all accepted founders/companies will be notified and provided with a list and contact information for all other accepted competitors, along with details about the competition activities
Sep 30th: SAVE THE DATE for a 12pm noon virtual kick-off call for accepted applicants to meet one another and learn more about what to expect leading up to the competition on Oct 10
Sep 29th - Oct 9th: your objective is to form a team totaling 3-5 companies/founders (minimum = 3; maximum = 5). You can contact any of the other accepted founders/companies from the list that is provided on Sep 29th
Sep 29th - Oct 9th: as soon as you have formed a team, you must submit the team member names and company information to the MFF Venture Competition organizers. ALL TEAMS ARE DUE BY 12:00PM OCT 9th IN ORDER TO COMPETE
Oct 10th: Competition Day Sprint on the day of the competition, each team will be provided 60 minutes (day-off sprint) to put together their team pitch

COMPETITION: TEAM PITCHES OCTOBER 10TH MAIN STAGE

Each team of 3-5 must develop a plan for how they can leverage different facets of their relationships/business/product to support one another in achieving mutual success in growing their business. This is what they will pitch to judges onstage October 10, 2023.‍

Pitch Format: 5 minutes to pitch, with 5 mins Q&A
‍
Evaluated on:
1. Originality
2. Strength of collaboration/outline of outcomes and ability/feasibility of being achieved
3. Strength of the individual company business models within the team
4. Consideration of diversity, equity and inclusion (of the team plan)
5. Economic Impact in Michigan - committed to growing some part of their business in-state

The winning team will split the prize money equally amongst each team member

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October 10, 2023 12:00 PM

September 27, 2023 11:55 PM

eLab AI Launchpad 2023 Pitch Competition

eLab AI Launchpad is an AI Pitch Competition aimed at supporting early-stage AI startups in Michigan with the launch of their company.

Selected participants will get the chance to pitch their company to a live audience and panel of judges, and the two most compelling companies will secure $50,000 and $25,000 SAFE investments (with a 20% discount and no cap) as prizes.

What you’ll receive for participating

The winners of the 1st and 2nd places will be awarded $50,000 or $25,000 SAFE investments (with a 20% discount and no cap) by eLab Ventures.
1st place recipient will also be granted a $5,000 legal MiSpringboard grant courtesy of Varnum.

Requirements

Have an established, full-time founding team with headquarters located in Michigan
Have product in market, some customer validation and/or generating revenue
Use AI as a material part of their product offering and/or provide a new AI technology platform to other companies
If selected, you will travel to Ann Arbor Michigan to pitch in person October 9th

NOTE: Companies that have already raised $2 million or more in funding (excluding state or federal grants) are not eligible

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October 9, 2023 9:00 AM

September 22, 2023 11:55 PM

CFCU Pitch + Pilot Showcase

Are you a founder or creator with a technology company that solves a problem in people’s financial lives?

Bamboo is partnering with Community Financial Credit Union to host a pitch event together for the tech community. The pitch event will take place live on stage October 10th as part of Michigan Tech Week - Michigan’s largest technology startup conference.
In an effort to uplift women in technology, we’re seeking innovative solutions led by a woman or non-binary co- founder or executive leader to present with us on stage at Michigan Tech Week.

We're seeking companies who have a product that solves a problem in people's financial lives, with a woman co-founder or leader who can present on stage at Michigan Tech Week. A cash prize and pilot opportunity will be awarded to the winner.

Sound like something you’d be interested in participating in? Click below to apply.

* FYI: The CFCU FinTech startup pitch competition is ready now and closes September 7, 2023

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October 10, 2023 10:00 AM

September 7, 2023 12:00 PM

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